The present invention pertains generally to furniture coverings and methods for covering furniture. Specifically, the invention relates to slipcovers to cover furniture for protection or to improve the appearance of furniture and related methods of covering furniture.
Household and business furniture is available in a nearly infinite number of designs, styles, shapes, sizes and materials. Fabric covered furniture is very desireable in home and business settings because it provides a comfortable, usually cushioned place to sit for extended periods of time. The material used on the furniture adds an aesthetic feature to the decor of the surroundings and may be chosen because of its particular color, design and texture.
While fully or partially upholstered furniture is very desireable, it has commonly experienced problems. First, the upholstery is a fabric vulnerable to damage during use; it is easily stained by the spilling of drinks or the activities of children. Moreover, pets, such as cats or dogs, can damage the material with their claws or teeth.
A second limitation of upholstered furniture is that the upholstery cannot be easily removed. If the upholstery on the chair or sofa is stained, damaged or just not the right style, color, design or texture for the surrounding decoration, or just out of style, replacement of the upholstery material requires removal and replacement. This can be a complicated, time consuming and expensive activity which may require the services of a professional upholsterer.
In the past, furniture has been shielded so that expensive permanent custom removal and replacement of that material would not be necessary. These efforts took two general directions; custom coverings and throws. Both of these alternatives suffers from significant disadvantages.
Custom coverings, most often made of cloth, but also made of plastic, provide both stain and tear resistance. This type of covering provides a protective layer over the furnishing permanently fitted to its particular dimensions. It suffers from the disadvantage of being expensive and time consuming to make, usually requiring the services of a professional upholsterer. Moreover, the finished custom covering fits only a single piece of furniture.
Plastic custom coverings have the advantage of allowing for the underlying upholstery to be seen. However, the pleasing tactile experience of sitting or laying on fabric is lost because no contact is directly made by the user with the fabric. Because plastic often is hot and sticky in the summer and cold in the winter, it is a poor substitute for direct contact with the upholstery material. Moreover, plastic coverings, like fabric custom coverings, are custom fitted over the original fabric, requiring approximately the same time and expense as the reupholstering process.
The second alternative to reupholstering is the use of a throw. Throws are non-fitted, mass-produced pieces of material placed over the furniture to be covered. This provides the advantage of covering the original, old upholstery with new material without complex and expensive custom installation. Moreover, a throw provides protection both from liquid and tears or rips, similar to custom coverings and hides the stains, tears, and possibly ugly appearance of the underlying upholstery.
Throws suffer from a disadvantage. Because they were not permanently cut and installed on the particular piece of furniture, they do not tightly fit the furniture. Even if made of an eye catching material, throws often either appear wrinkled and in disarray or, if tucked-in to a piece of furniture to reduce the wrinkles, are subject to becoming disheveled upon the most minor of uses. Hence, while throws overcome some of the disadvantages of custom coverings, they suffer from the major disadvantages of not being fitted to the particular piece of furniture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a slipcover which has adjustable dimensions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a covering for furniture which can have some of its dimensions varied to closely match the dimensions of the furniture.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a slipcover which can be manually adjusted to fit different furniture pieces having varying shapes and sizes.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a furniture covering that can easily and quickly be fitted to a piece of furniture without professional installation.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a furniture covering which is temporarily adjustable to the particular dimensions of a piece of furniture.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide a method of adjustably and reversibly fitting a slipcover to a piece of furniture.
Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description and illustration of the preferred embodiment of the invention.